Railway-car draft-rigging.



.1. HARRIS.

RAILWAY CAR DRAFT RIGGING. APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 5. 191a! I 1 "m 5 INVENTORE WITNESSES: 706 0fi Harrw I I W ATTORNEY Patented Feb. 4, 1919.

%ATES ATENT @FFIQE.

JOSEPH HARRIS, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO WILLIAM H. MINER, QT CRAZY,

NEW YORK.

LWAY-C L 5'1.

DFT-RIGGING.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed September 5, 1916. Serial No. 118,387.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, JOSEPH HARRIS, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Railway-Car Draft- Riggings, of which the following is a full, clear, concise, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification.

This invention relates to improvements in railway car draft riggings.

In the operation of railway draft riggings, considerable difliculty has heretofore been encountered, due to the shearing of the rivets connecting the draw bar and yoke when the draw bar and yoke are moved radially as the cars pass over curves. Various means have been provided to accommodate the radial movements referred to without imposing shearing strains on the yoke and connections between the yoke and draw bar. But

heretofore, these means have contemplated the swinging of the draw bar and yoke about points relatively near the end sill of the car,

thus giving a comparatively short radius for the radlal movements of the parts.

The object of my invention is to provide means for accommodating the radial movements of the draw bar and yoke, which means will permit the draw bar and yoke to swing'about fulcrums relatively far removed from the end sill of the car, to thereby provide a longer arm for the radial movements and thus minimize tendency to destroy the yoke or connections between the yoke and draw bar.

More specifically, the object of my invention is to provide improved stop castings for railway draft riggings having integral means forming fulcrums for the yoke substantially at the rear or innermost ends of the casting.

The invention furthermore consists in the improvements of the parts and devices and in the novel combinations of the parts and devices herein shown, described or claimed.

In the drawing forming a part of this specification Figure 1 is a longitudinal, horizontal sectional view of a car draft rigging illustrating one embodiment of my invention. And Fig. 2 is a vertical, transverse sectional view of the structure illustrated in Fig. 1 and taken on the line 22 thereof.

In said drawing, 10-10 denote channel,

,Each of the stop castings A is formed with the metal thereof of substantially uni-' form thickness throughout, as clearly appears from the horizontal and verticalsections thereof. Each casting A is also provided with a front main stop 20, rear main stop 21, front intermediate main stop 22, rear intermediate main stop 23, and corresponding limiting stops 24, 25, 26 and 27. All of the stops, both main and limiting, are formed by means of vertical convolutions or bends in the casting, as clearly appears from the horizontal sections shown in Fig. 1. As shown in Fig. 1, the front stop 20 and the central stop comprising the stop shoulders 22 and 23, are of substantially the same depth and provide clearance between the faces thereof and the yoke to permit the latter and draw bar to swing radially, as will be apparent. The rear stops 21 are made considerably deeper or extended outwardly from the sills toward the center line of the gear, more than either of the front or middle stops. As shown in Fig. 1, relatively small spaces are provided between the yoke and the rear stops 21 so that as the draw bar swings from side to side, the yoke will fulcrum at its rear end about the rear stops 21 and to facilitate this operation and to minimize wear of the parts, each of the rear stops 21 is preferably provided with a curved inner bearing face 28 which acts as the fulcrum. In order that there may be no interference with the radial movements of 21 said flanges 29 are inclined or slightly curved inwardly to points flush with the bearing faces of the rear stops.

In order to provide proper bearings between the thimble 19 and the intermediate followers 13 and 14: in all positions of the yoke, the front and rear faces of the thimble are curved as indicated at 31, 32. The radius of the curved surface 31 equals approximately the distance from the rear face of the follower 13 to a point opposite the rear stops 21 or, in other words, the radius of said surface 31 is made with its center coinciding substantially with the center of oscillation of the draw bar and yoke about the rear stops 21. The radius of the other surface 32 is substantially the same as that for the surface 31 but from the opposite side.

In operation, as the draw bar and yoke swing laterally they will fulcrum as a unit about the rear stops 21, and binding of the parts will be prevented since there is sufficient clearance between the yoke and the front and middle stops. The amount of radial movement of the draw bar may be limited by any suitable means such as the bushings 33, only one of which is illustrated in the drawing on account of lack of space.

From the preceding description, it will be seen that an unusually long arm 15 provided for the yoke and draw bar in the radial movements of the latter and at the same time there is always maintained a bearing or line contact between the thimble of the yoke and the follower 13 in the center line of the gear.

I claim 1. A side casting for draft riggings adapted to be secured to the inner side of a draft sill and having two end and central main stops for a tandem gear, one of said end stops being deeper than the other stops to thereby provide a fulcrum at the end of the casting for a yoke and draw bar to swing upon in all positions of the yoke and draw bar, said deeper end stop having a curved inner bearing face.

2. In a draft rigging for railway cars, the combination with draft sills, of tandem stop castings secured to the inner faces of said sills, tandem arranged springs and followers, a tandem yoke having an intermediate thimble cooperable with the intermediate followers of the gear, the rear stops of said tandem castings being deeper than the front and middle stops thereof to thereby form a fulcrum for the yoke, the front and rear faces of said thimble being curved, the radius of the front face of the thimble approximating the distance, parallel'to the axis of the gear, from the rear face of the front intermediate follower to a point opposite said deeper end stops.

In witness that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto subscribed my name this 31 st day of August, 1916.

JOSEPH HARRIS. 

